Social media has become a very important tool in sport and celebrity, the three main platforms, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have helped many male and female athletes become massively famous around the planet. These are the most popular female sports stars on social media.

Ronda Rousey – UFC Fighter

Instagram followers – 12.9 M

Facebook followers – 12 M

Twitter followers – 3.6 M

Rousey started off her sports career in Judo and became the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in judo by winning a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics. The UFC star had enormous success in the UFC before a shock defeat at the hands of Holly Holm in 2015 and subsequently losing her Bantamweight belt. After some time out from the UFC and public life, she return to fighting in December 2016 with a second consecutive loss, this time at the hands on Amanda Nunes, she would retire from MMA soon after.

Rousey is currently signed to WWE as a wrestler. Her longstanding nickname, “Rowdy”, was inherited from late professional wrestler Roddy Piper. She is the only woman to win a championship in both the UFC and WWE

Serena Williams – Tennis Player

Instagram followers – 12.2 M

Facebook followers – 5.9 M

Twitter followers – 10.9 M

Serena Williams is near the top of the pile when it comes to the most popular female athletes, Serena holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined amongst active players. Her record of 39 Grand Slam titles puts her third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era: 23 in singles, 14 in women’s doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles, make her the greatest female tennis player of all time.

The 38 year old won her first singles title as a mother at the 2020 ASB Classic, becoming the first woman in the professional era with at least one title in four decades: the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

Maria Sharapova – Tennis Player

Maria Sharapova was a tennis superstar who has been ranked no.1 in singles on five separate occasions. She is one of ten women to hold the career Grand Slam. Not to mention she is also an Olympic medalist, having earned silver for Russia in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Even a failed drugs test and a subsequent 15-month ban can’t damage the support Sharapova has from sports fans around the world. The five-time major winner has since retired from tennis.

Nikki Bella

The top-followed pro wrestler on our list of most followed female athletes on Instagram, Nikki Bella was sidelined for the first half of 2016 after extensive surgery on a neck injury. After 10 months out of the ring, the WWE star made a surprise return at WWE’s SummerSlam and she hasn’t looked back since.

Nikki also has a media career as well has her own active wear and beauty brand.

Alex Morgan – Soccer Player

Instagram followers – 9.3m

Facebook followers – 3.5m

Twitter followers – 4m

In addition to leading America in the Rio Olympics and finishing the season as a suitable nominee for the 2016 Female Soccer Player of the year, Alex joined her teammates this year to file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissions, accusing the US Soccer Federation of wage discrimination on behalf of the whole US Women’s National Team.

In 2015, Morgan was ranked by Time as the top-paid American women’s soccer player largely due to her numerous endorsement deals. She also became the first women’s soccer player to appear on the cover of FIFA video games in 2015. As you can see from her social media following, Alex is a huge figure in female sport and is regarded as one of the most popular female athletes of this decade.

Morgan is still on the US team and plays for the Orlando Pride on the National Women’s Soccer League

Sania Mirza

Instagram followers – 6.2 m

Facebook followers – 14 M

Twitter followers – 9.1 M

A former grand slam winner, Mirza is by far the most successful Indian women’s tennis player ever and one of the highest-paid and most high-profile athletes in the country. Mirza has won many awards around the world, building her into a massive sports celebrity including being named one of the “50 Heroes of Asia” by Time in October 2005. She was appointed as the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia and on 25 November 2013 and was named in Time magazine’s 2016 list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Saraya-Jade Bevis ‘Paige’

Saraya-Jade Bevis is an English professional wrestling personality, actress, and retired professional wrestler, even her parents were professional wrestlers! She goes by the name Paige and is a huge global sports celebrity. Retiring in 2018 Paige is a prolific actress in tv and film.

Instagram followers – 5.8 m

Facebook followers – 3.3 m

Twitter followers – 2.5m

7. Natalya Neidhart

In at number 7 on our list of most followed female athletes is WWE star, and personality Natalya Neidhart. Clearly, after 15 years of gracing our screens as a pro wrestler, Natalya has built quite the loyal following for herself.

Instagram followers – 3.7m

Facebook followers – 3.6m

Twitter followers – 2.2m

Simone Biles

At 19 years old Simone set an American record for most gold medals in a single Olympics Games at Rio 2016, becoming the most decorated female U.S. gymnast ever in the process. She’s now 23 with a combined total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals, Biles is the most decorated American gymnast and the world’s third most decorated gymnast.

Instagram followers – 3.7 m

Facebook followers – 1 m

Twitter followers – 1.1 M

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